First published 2023
Lauren Fleshman built her career as one of the most decorated collegiate athletes in history and a national champion runner. She became a prominent face of women's running for Nike before departing to launch feminist running brand Oiselle. Now she coaches elite young female runners while confronting a troubling reality: sports systems designed by and for men systematically fail girls and women. Fleshman documents how girls abandon sports at alarming rates after puberty, while female collegiate athletes suffer disproportionate injuries, eating disorders, and mental health crises. She traces her own journey from falling in love with running as a girl to pushing past devastating injuries. Drawing on emerging research about young athlete physiology and psychology, Fleshman argues that competitive sports must be rebuilt with women at the center. This memoir and manifesto challenges the era when women felt grateful merely to participate and calls for systemic reform of athletic culture.
Genres: gender-studies, feminism, autobiography, sports, non-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century, activism
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: memoir, personal-journey
Period: 21st-century
288 pages · Hardcover · Penguin Press